JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rebuked critics of the recent Israeli military incursion into Gaza, saying "no one will be immune" from retaliation.

"We will act against those who dispatch the terrorists and against those who harm us. No one will be immune," Olmert said before the weekly Cabinet meeting.

International critics called the Israeli reaction to repeated Qassam attacks targeting southern Israel "excessive," with the U.N. Security Council expressing its concern over the loss of life, IsraelINN said Monday.

"It must be remembered," Olmert said, "that the State of Israel is simply protecting its residents in the south."